


Sand, Swords, Scars, and Other Things I Won't Tell My Cursed Wolf Therapist

by MyssaMyss



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, Hopeful Ending, Linked Universe, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), LinkedUniverse, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 23:44:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19283629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyssaMyss/pseuds/MyssaMyss
Summary: Based on the Linked Universe created by Jojo (https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/)Legend is forced to confront his traumatic memories on a mysterious seashore, and he does not want anyone’s help. Inspired by several headcanons from the LU discord, takes a rather dramatic departure from LoZ canon partway through.*Trigger Warnings for child abuse and some violence*





	1. Old Wounds

Evening fell in the forest where nine chosen heroes camped. A fire crackled merrily and the smell of stew wafted through the air. Legend pulled off his heavy red tunic and stretched. After a long day of trudging through the forest, he was grateful for a chance to rest. The others were deep in a conversation about magical items that was quickly evolving into a competition. He leaned against a nearby oak tree to enjoy their banter.

“Legend, what about you?” Wild asked, looking up from his cooking pot.  

“Yeah!” Wind chimed in. “You always have all the cool stuff!”

Legend thought of his trove of weapons, magical rings, and other sundries that Ravio was watching (or probably  _hawking_ ) for him back in his own Hyrule. He also had half a dozen impressive items in his bag, but he preferred unpredictability.

“Well, as long as we’re showing off magical things,” Legend accepted. He dug in his bag, then straightened up dramatically. He held out a smelly, shattered bracelet with a sarcastic flourish. 

The others stared in expectation.  

“What does it do?” Warriors asked. “Give you strength?”  

“Does it make you fast like those boots?” Sky guessed.  

“Nope, better,” Legend deadpanned. “It gave me the power to become a  _painting_.”

There was silence in the camp, then some easy laughter. 

“Legend, no offense, but how does that help you fight?” Wind asked. 

“It’s not really for fighting. It’s proof that the gods have a sense of humor,” Legend told them cryptically.  

“Annnd done!” Wild announced, breaking their conversation. “Rabbit stew’s ready!”

The others clamored to the cooking pot to fill their bowls. Time had been closest, but Wind still managed to dart his way to the front. Four helped Wild ladle out portions for each hero. Legend didn’t move.

“Wild, this is amazing!” Wind exclaimed with a mouthful of stew.

Time nodded behind his generous bowl. “I might have you give the recipe to Malon. What’s your secret?” he asked.  

Wild smiled. “It’s just braised rabbit, anybody can do it with some oil, and some patience.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, definitely not,” replied Warriors between eager spoonfuls. “You should have seen what we were eating before you joined up.”

Legend was quiet. He wordlessly pushed himself from the oak and turned away from camp. 

“Don’t you want some of this?” Hyrule called after him. 

“Nah,” he shot back over his shoulder. “I don’t care much for rabbit.” 

He felt the others’ eyes on him as he disappeared into the trees. He didn’t return until long after dinner.

***

Legend woke violently from his dreams later that night. He sucked in deep breaths and glanced around, relieved to find the others sleeping peacefully near him. He turned over in his bedroll and clutched for his hat. 

His hands ran across the familiar stitching on the blue cap. It was a gift from his uncle, to hide the scar on the back of his head that even his long hair couldn’t cover. 

Legend itched at the waxy skin of the old wound absentmindedly. It wasn’t the worst injury he’d ever received, but damn if he didn’t think about it often. Two faces from his nightmare swam in his mind: a sad woman framed with thin blonde hair and a mean-faced man with a ruddy complexion. He rolled his eyes and the faces dissolved. That trauma was old,  _overplayed_ , he told himself. 

He flipped himself over forcefully, but more memories came unbidden. This time, he saw his uncle with a sword shoved through his gut. Legend winced.

Alright, no more pity parties, he scolded himself. He had to get moving before Marin decided to show up in his mind too.

Legend stood up, forced his feet into his boots, shoved his cap onto his head, and marched into the darkness. Dirt from inside of the boots rubbed at his sore feet. He tried to kick the grit into the boots’ toes as he walked, but it was useless. The whole world was out to aggravate him tonight.

_No_. Find some friends. Make some mischief.  _You’ll be alright_ , he chanted silently. 

It must have been Twilight’s turn for watch, because Legend found a huge wolf pacing protectively near the outskirts of their camp. Speaking of mischief…

“Hey wolfie,” he said lowly. “You seen Twi? I heard the two of you are never in the same place at the same time.”

The dark wolf cocked his head at Legend, then padded off between the trees. A disgruntled Twilight returned from the darkness in his place.  

“How long have you known?” he asked with a quiet edge.

“C’mon,” Legend shot back. “You think you’re the only one with a cool animal power from a dark realm?”

Twilight opened his mouth, then shut it again. He sat down on a nearby fallen tree and crossed his arms over his chest.

“What happened to you?” Twilight finally asked. 

Legend took a seat beside him. His boots were feeling even more uncomfortable, as if the dirt had somehow multiplied inside of them.  

“Let’s just say that my spirit animal isn’t half as cool as yours,” Legend told him. “In fact, I bet you could eat my spirit animal for a snack.”

“Is this about dinner?” Twilight pressed. 

“Funny enough, no. Well, maybe? I’m actually not sure,” Legend said thoughtfully. “One point for the Hero of Twilight, master of deduction.”

Twilight rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to pry,” he told Legend. “You seemed like you wanted to talk.”

Legend sighed. “No, you’re right, I do,” he said. 

Yet the two men sat in silence.

Legend’s toes were becoming numb. He kicked one foot in frustration. Without the distraction of conversation, memories of his nightmare were swirling back into his mind.  

“Twi, did you know your parents?” Legend asked abruptly.

“ _Seriously_?” Twilight laughed. “Alright, I’ll play: no. How about  _you_ , Legend? Did  _you_  know your parents?”

Legend dodged his own question. “My uncle died right in front of me. But it’s alright because I wished him back with the Triforce. At least, I think I did.” 

“So, you got a happy ending?” Twilight asked. 

“Naw, that was just my first adventure. That wasn’t the end of the story,” he replied. 

Twilight doubled down. “And the beginning, with your parents? Do you remember them?” 

Legend tried to keep his voice light. “I remember my mom too well. It wasn’t a happy beginning.” 

He must have let the bitterness seep into his words, because Twilight gave him a look of damned pity.  

“I’m sorry,” Twilight offered with deep sincerity. 

Legend didn’t want anyone’s sympathy. He turned away and finally pulled off his right boot, dumping its contents onto the ground.  

A steady stream of golden sand began pouring from the overturned boot.  

_What the hell?_

They hadn’t walked through any sand that day, only the musty undergrowth of the forest. As he tried to understand how half a beach ended up in his shoe, the sand vanished from the forest floor.

Legend jumped up and kicked at the ground with his sock. There was nothing there but moist dirt and moss.  

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, looking over.  

Legend nodded violently and sat back down. If he was losing his mind, he didn’t need Twilight knowing.

“Yeah, I’m ok.”


	2. The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Trigger warning for descriptions of violence and suggested child abuse*

The next day, the heroes marched out of the woods and found themselves on a tropical beach.  

“Wait,” Time called out, raising an upright fist to signal  _stop_.  

“Damn, not again,” Warriors muttered. “Where the hell are we now?”

The scent of mulch from the temperate forest had been replaced by briny air. Legend whipped his head back to the forest, the tail of his blue hat swinging. The trees had been mainly oak and maple just moments ago. Now there stood a jungle filled with palms and creeping vines. A weathered stone statue, covered in salt stains and vegetation, rose from the golden sand near the jungle’s entrance. Legend drew a sharp breath.  

“Guys, look, a sea!” Wind cried out joyfully. He crouched down and began untying his shoes.  

“Your sea?” Warriors asked. Wind shook his head.  

Unease sat in the pit of Legend’s stomach. “Does anybody have  _any idea_  where in Hylia’s name we’ve been dropped now?” he asked.  

“I think,” Wild began, “we might be near the Faron Sea?” He pulled out his Sheikah slate with a familiar chime.  

All faces turned to Wild. Twilight stepped to his side and gazed over his shoulder at the slate.  

Wild frowned. “Huh, maybe not. The map still isn’t working.” He glanced back at the crumbling statue. “But there’s statues like that all over the jungle back home, near Faron. I guess they’re really old, no one knows who created them.”

Legend gave a grim laugh. “ _Great_. Mysterious statues in dangerous jungles that no one’s ever been to before. Sounds _fun_ ,” he said bitterly.  

“Well, it doesn’t seem like we’re in danger right now,” Hyrule replied. He glanced at Wind, who was gazing out to sea. “Maybe we could take a break, check out the water, and regroup?”

Wind nodded emphatically.  

Sky closed his eyes and smiled as a sea breeze blew through his hair. “Agreed,” he said.  

A few hundred meters to their left rose a sheer cliff face dotted with tropical vegetation. The cliff ran parallel to the shore, then jutted out toward the water sharply, creating a natural alcove. A thunderous waterfall careened down the alcove’s inner corner. The water kicked up mist in a small pool before flowing into the sea.  

Time gestured to the waterfall. “Seems like we’d have good cover if we make camp there,” he said. “We don’t know what monsters could be lurking in this jungle.”

The group of heroes nodded and started toward the waterfall.  

Memories flooded Legend’s mind. The last time he turned up on a mysterious seashore, things hadn’t exactly ended well, he thought to himself. He forced his mind to focus on the present by staring up at the approaching cliff.  

More ancient rock carvings rose into view as they grew closer. Heavy erosion had removed all clues of the statues’ original shape. When they reached the basin at the foot of the waterfall, Legend noticed that the entire cliffside was etched with swirling designs.  

Wind threw his belongings to the ground near the pool. “Race you guys to the water!” he yelled, sprinting for the waves. Gulls fled to the sky in his wake.  

Legend winced. Wild grinned, threw his slate and weapons down, and took off after Wind across the sand. Time smiled and began shedding his armor in a rare show of boyish excitement. The others followed suit.

_Aw fine, what the hell_ , Legend grumbled to himself with a deep internal sigh.  _So what_  if hewas losing his mind? He could sit here marinating with his terrible memories, or he could try enjoying the day.

Legend pulled off his cap and red tunic and made his way to the water with his friends.  

***

Hours later after they tired of swimming and lay out to dry on the sand, Warriors proposed a sword fight.  

“Sure, why not,” Legend replied. He needed another activity to keep his mind from the damned island flashbacks.  

Warriors eyed him suspiciously. Legend gave him a tight-lipped smile in return. At least his melancholy was keeping Warriors on his toes, he thought with cynical glee.

“Could we use branches instead of blades?” Four asked. He threw Wild a pleading look.

“Yeah, I got it, we won’t make more repair work for you,” Wild told him, standing up and kicking the sand from his legs. He ran off to retrieve some of the arm-length branches he inexplicably carried in his Sheikah slate.  

Several matches later, Warriors faced off against Twilight. Both men clutched a shield and a long tree branch. Legend, Wild, Wind, Sky, and Four watched intently.    

 

Warriors stalked a wide circle around the larger man, his feet shifting gingerly in the loose sand.  

He darted in for a swing.

Twilight dodged sideways and used the momentum to spin, winding up his branch. He came back around to deliver a crushing blow.  

Warriors lifted his shield and caught the swipe with a mighty CLANG.  

Twilight’s branch shattered into splinters.  

Warriors seamlessly thrust his branch beneath Twilight’s throat.  

 

Their audience exploded into cheers and laughter.  

“Not fair!” Twilight cried out with a laugh. He playfully batted Warrior’s branch away from his chin.  

“So, I guess you’re the new Wild now,” Legend teased him from the sidelines. “Who taught you how to fight?”

Wild whipped his head around. “Hey now,” he warned with a smile.  

Twilight nudged Wild affectionately and sat down beside them in the sand.

“An old friend taught me,” Twilight replied. “No fancy training like Mister Captain over there.”  

Warriors made a show of rolling his eyes as he joined the spectators. Four and Wind rose for the next match.

“How about you? Who taught  _you_  how to fight?” Twilight quipped.  

Legend’s mind flashed to his uncle and the fateful day he pulled Legend from a life of squalor and pain. The old knight knew the healing power of a sword in the hands of a scared young boy. Legend recalled the solace of a worn leather hilt clutched in his tiny palms as his uncle trained him each evening in their family’s ancient sword techniques. That is, until the night Legend found his uncle felled in a castle corridor, lying in a pool of his own blood. The night that Legend took up his uncle’s sword and killed nearly half the castle guard.  

“You know, I learned on the dangerous road of life,” Legend casually replied.

He turned his attention to the fight, where Wind twirled and threw strikes at Four. Sometimes he forgot that Wind was still a boy, just like Legend himself had been once.  

“Damn, look at the kid go,” Legend murmured.  

***

_13 years before LU_

Alfon nervously thumbed his black mustache as he led the scrawny boy into his home. By the gods, he hadn’t even known his brother had a kid. How long had this boy been living on the edge of the forest half-starved?

He shuddered to think of the rickety shack he found his nephew in. A mean-looking man with filthy hair and a flushed face had met him at the shack’s decaying door. Alfon rested his hand on the pommel of his sword. He hadn’t drawn it to fight in years, but he was happy to have it with him that afternoon. 

Thankfully, the disheveled man was only too happy to give the boy away. 

“The brat’s mother hasn’t been home in over a week. Probably dead in a ditch if you ask me. Go ahead, take him, the bastard isn’t mine,” the mean-faced man said with disinterest. 

His tiny nephew was curled up in the corner like an unwanted dog. His wide eyes shone with bright hope when he caught sight of Alfon. 

And now here Alfon was, bringing the child back to his own house. 

“It’s not much, but this is my place. Yours now too,” Alfon told him as they crossed the threshold. The boy’s eyes were big as saucers. 

“Thank you, sir,” he said quietly. 

“You don’t have to call me sir. We’re family. But I’ll have to call you something. What do you go by?” Alfon asked him. 

The boy looked down at his worn shoes. “Link,” he whispered. 

A tragic name for a tragic boy, Alfon thought to himself. 

“Well, Link, come sit down, I’ll make us some dinner,” he told him. 

His bachelor life hadn’t lent him many cooking skills, but Alfon had seen skeletons thicker than his nephew. He was determined to cook _something_ for the boy to eat. He scrounged together some rice and set it to boiling. 

After half an hour of cooking, Alfon realized that the boy hadn’t made a single noise. He glanced over. Link sat at the wooden table with his arms at his side and his head staring down, the picture of perfect behavior. 

But that was wrong, wasn’t it, Alfon thought darkly. He didn’t have much experience, but shouldn’t kids his age be running and vaulting and yelling? Link was too well behaved. When Alfon looked closer, he noticed the boy was shaking. 

“Say Link, will you help me get some dishes?” he asked, breaking the silence. “They’re in the cupboard over by that wall.” Alfon gestured across the room. 

Link gazed up at him, nodded pathetically, and jumped up from his chair. As he walked away, Alfon noticed a wicked scar cutting across the back of the boy’s scalp. It wasn’t the sort of scar a kid would get from adventuring: skinned knees, bumped foreheads, scraped palms. It was the kind of scar he recognized from his days as a knight. A blow to the back of the head while one’s back is turned. Maybe even when one is running away. 

A deep anger simmered inside of Alfon. Maybe he  _should_  have drawn his sword against the mean-looking man.  

The two sat down for dinner. Link ate methodically despite his gaunt appearance. He kept glancing at Alfon when he thought the old knight wasn’t looking. 

When their meal was finished, the boy finally spoke again. 

“Are you my father?” he asked in a small, pleading voice. 

Alfon took a deep breath. “No. I’m not. I’m his brother. Your father, he was lost years ago,” he told the boy softly. 

Link nodded, his tiny chin bobbing up and down in acceptance. His eyes were hard like a sea before storms. 

“And my mother?” the boy asked with unnerving calm. 

Alfon’s mustache bristled. “She’s passed on, lad,” he admitted. 

“Good.” 

The boy’s word hung foully in the air. Alfon tried to hide his surprise.  

He glanced around the room, and his eyes fell on his sheathed blade near the door.  

“Say, Link,” he broke the strained silence, “have you ever held a sword?”

A week later, Alfon watched from the window as his tiny nephew swung at the dummy he had constructed from hay. The boy rained down blow after blow. His new blue cap waved behind him like a triumphant flag.

“Damn kid!” Alfon called out to him. “Look at you go!”


	3. Tragic Name, Tragic Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Trigger Warning for depictions of child abuse*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: This section is dedicated to someone very small and dear. Fiction is a powerful tool to explore painful reality. It helps us lament the past and hope for the future. It is my sincere hope that, despite traumatic beginnings, a dear little one will grow up into a brave and kind hero.

“Something’s strange,” Four pointed out.  

The sun had already set beyond the waves. Nine heroes sat gazing into the glowing fire as the waterfall roared in the distance beyond the strange statues.  

“I noticed too,” Time said pensively.  

Warriors nodded. “We haven’t been attacked.”

“We haven’t even seen any other people,” Four said.  

“Just seagulls,” Wind added.  

Sky glanced behind them into the deep jungle darkness. “What should we do?” he asked.  

Legend huffed at Sky. “What  _can_  we do? Ask the Goddess to please open a nice rip in the universe for us to jump through? We’re  _stuck here_.”

Twilight gave him a warning look. “This happens to us all the time. We step into a different Hyrule without realizing it. What’s up with you?”  

“Yeah, but usually we know  _whose_  Hyrule we stumble into. But do any of you know where we are? No.” Legend replied acidly.  

“Look, it’s not like  _not_  being attacked is the biggest problem in the world-“  

Legend stood up suddenly, cutting Twilight off. “I’m going to bed,” he told them. He stalked off to his bedroll.  

“Legend, _wait_ ,” Time called out.  

Legend ignored him. He didn’t need the Old Man mediating between him and Twilight as if they were children.  

He lay down and closed his eyes. Now there was nothing to distract him from his memories of Koholint. He curled his fingers into tight fists as visions of auburn hair and seagulls swam in his mind.  

When Legend finally drifted to sleep, he found himself reliving an even older memory…  

_14 years before LU_

Link sat in the corner of their one-room shack, wrapped in his threadbare blanket. His stomach twisted in hunger. If he lay still, he could pretend he was still sleeping and maybe the mean man wouldn’t bother him. 

The mean man was fighting with her again.  

“Look, he’s not my son. I don’t care what happens to him,” the mean man said coolly. His cheeks were flushed from drink. “You wanna go out each day and do whatever you damn well please then fine, but I’m not gonna look out for the bastard.”

His mother said nothing. Link heard her footsteps as she slowly walked away and pushed open the shack’s only door. 

Link propelled himself off the filthy floor and hurried to the door, catching it before it could close. He ran across the dirt to his mother. He wrapped his thin arms around her waist and clung to her. 

“Mom, stay, please. Please don’t leave me here with him today. Please, Mom,” his small voice whispered. 

His mother shook off his hands with clumsy movements. She looked down at him, and he could see that her pupils were small pinpricks in a pool of blue iris. Her eyes slipped past him. Link knew better than to hope when she got this way. 

“That’s enough Link. I have to go,” she told him slowly. 

He hung his head. 

“Hey,” she said with a leaden voice. She reached down and put a hand to his face. “Chin up…it’s ok. You have Lucky. Nothing’s gonna happen this time. Be good ‘til I get back.” 

Link ran his tiny fingers over his freshly-healed scalp wound. If he could just stay out of the mean man’s way, he coached himself, then he’d be safe from his flying bottles.  

His mother walked away into the trees. Link stared after her for a few wistful minutes, then he turned and trudged to his homemade rabbit hutch in the yard. Link had built the tiny structure himself from branches and brambles because the mean man didn’t want Link’s rabbit in their home. _It’s not even your stupid home_ , Link thought angrily. Yet he knew his mother would bend to the mean man’s wishes. Besides, Link could take care of Lucky himself.

Link spent the afternoon playing with his rabbit. The mean man left the shack near midday and sauntered passed him, eyes lingering on Link and his only friend.  

Link froze. He prayed the mean man would just keep going on his way and, to Link’s luck, he strode off into the forest toward town. Link was alone with his rabbit. He liked that best. 

“Lucky, I think we’re safe,” he whispered to his fluffy companion. He played for several more hours, then he placed Lucky back in the rabbit’s hutch before setting off on his daily chore of gathering firewood.

Link could hear a loud, angry voice rising from the shack when he returned. The mean man and his mother had undoubtedly come home. He stowed his meager pile of kindling near their wood pile, then he crept to the only window and knelt quietly below it, unseen.  

“Why do you let him keep the damn bunny for a pet?” The mean man was nearly yelling. “The whole country’s facing a famine, and we’ll starve too. Besides, the kid needs to grow up.”

His mother kept her usual silence.

Dread grew in the pit of Link’s stomach. 

He forgot he was supposed to be hiding. He kicked off of the shack’s wall and flew to the rabbit hutch with all the haste his small legs could muster. He pressed the tiny animal to his chest desperately as he huddled in the grass, sucking in panicked breaths. 

He heard loud footsteps and the rickety door to their shack banged open. The mean man must have heard his flight. A few more footsteps, and Link stared up at his imposing form. 

“Eavesdropping again?” the mean man asked wickedly. “That’s rude.”

Link shrunk away and tried to retreat backwards on his shuffling knees.

“No surprises then. Gimme the rabbit, kid.”

Link knew that protesting was useless, but he still did his best to wrap his frail body around Lucky as if he could shield his friend from fate. 

He was too small, too weak. The mean man hauled Link up by his right wrist and wrenched him away from Lucky. Link felt a strange pop at his right elbow followed by searing pain. 

His rabbit, terrified, began to scream out a guttural cry. Link’s own scream of pain met it. The mean man used his free hand to grab the rabbit roughly by the back of its legs. He dropped Link’s small body to the dirt, leaving him alone to curl tightly around his injured arm. 

Lucky’s screams were suddenly silenced with a small pop. Link heard footsteps receding back toward the entrance of the shack. 

He knew he’d probably catch hell for it, but between the crippling pain and the loss of his friend he couldn’t stop himself. Big, wet tears poured from his eyes into the dirt. His injured right arm clung to his stomach. He tried to move it, only to experience another zing of shooting pain through his elbow. The arm was locked and useless. 

He looked up for someone, anyone to help him. He caught sight of his mother. Long blonde hair framed her sad face as she watched him from the window. Link started toward her, but she shook her head, turned from the window, and retreated back into the darkness of their shack. 

He was alone.  

What if he never moved his arm again, he thought with rising panic. He had to do something. 

He stumbled into the woods clutching his injury. How much distance did he need to cover to be out of earshot? He’d be in trouble if he made noise, but he’d be in more trouble if the mean man had to come looking for him. The shack was just barely visible through the trees when he decided he’d gone far enough. He dropped to his knees in the dirt and shoved the front of his shirt into his mouth to muffle his screams. 

He screwed his eyes shut, then he grabbed his injured arm with his good one. He ripped the arm away from his abdomen and forced it to move downward despite the excruciating pain. He screamed in the back of his throat. 

Nothing changed. The arm was still just as useless as it had been, glued to his side. 

Desperate, he tried once more. This time he wrenched upwards on the arm with the mightiest pull his tiny frame could deliver. The pain was worse, so much worse, but then…

Link sighed in relief. The pain was fading quickly. He practiced opening and closing his small fingers, turning his right hand front and back. He had done it. 

He didn’t dare spend more time away from the shack. 

***

That night at dinner, Link stared straight ahead as his mother set bowls of rabbit stew on the table. It was the first meat they’d seen in weeks. Link fought the bile rising in his throat as his stomach turned.

“You should eat,” his mother told him quietly. Link knew better than to ask for her mercy.

_Dear Golden Goddesses_ , he silently prayed,  _please take me away, anywhere. Let me fade into my dreams or fly into the sky. Let me melt into the walls and never come back out._

Later, when the mean man had drunk himself into a stupor, his mother crept over to Link’s makeshift nest in the corner. She brushed his honey-blond hair behind his ears with a graceless hand and gave the top of his head a short, wooden kiss. 

Then she was gone again, out into the night to wherever she went. Link made himself small and silent in his corner of the shack.  

***

_Present Day_

The sound of distant screaming woke Legend from his dream.  

He sat up. Had he imagined the cry? All he heard now was the muted roar of water from the nearby waterfall. He glanced around. Reflected moonlight gleamed from the spiral cliff etchings as they rose above the dense tropical foliage. Close by, eight heroes slept soundly in their blankets.

_Wait, who was supposed to be taking watch?_

Another scream echoed across the alcove, piercing through the dull clamor of falling water. It seemed to come from the waterfall itself.

“Are any of you guys hearing this?” Legend called out loudly. Not even Wild stirred.  

_Well f*ck_.

Legend stood up slowly. He pulled his red tunic over his head and prepared his weapons. He gave Warriors a firm kick to the shoulder as he passed by. No response.  

_So that’s how it’s gonna be_ , Legend thought.  _Fine_. He’d faced magic bullshit before and he would do it again. He brushed a pink strand of hair from his eyes and started toward the waterfall.  

_Ready or not, here I come._   


	4. Confrontation

Legend approached the waterfall. The swirled etchings on the cliff face seemed to gleam brighter in the moonlight. The crash of water commanded his hearing, drowning out any additional screams.

As he crept closer, he could see pitch blackness behind the waterfall where no etchings gleamed. Spray from the water misted his face as he inched his body along the cliff face to peer behind the waterfall.  A dark, hidden cave lurked behind the curtain of water.  _Of course there’s a damned cave_ , he hissed to himself. He took a resigned breath and entered.  

Legend stood in a large rocky cavern beneath the falls. Its empty stone walls were barely lit by moonlight. The roar of the waterfall echoed through the cavern as Legend’s eyes swept over bare stone.  

The cave suddenly grew absolutely dark and silent. He twirled around and found that the entrance had disappeared into blackness.  

Well, he thought to himself, at least I still have my weapons.  _And I’m not a bunny._

A woman’s scream split the silence, loud and close. Legend dropped into a crouch.

“Alright,  _Magic Cave_ ,” he called out into the darkness, “I know you’re working hard to be spooky, but I’d really like to go back to sleep. Can we just get this over with?”

A pale, sourceless light began to illuminate the cave. Appearing out of the darkness ahead of him stood a petite, shadowy figure. The edges of the figure spiraled like dark smoke. The shadow coalesced, sharpening into a familiar girl with long auburn hair. The hem of her pale blue dress fluttered among the twisting darkness.  

Legend felt his fists curl. Heat rose in his chest.  

“Oh, Link,” the figure called to him with a sickening, sing-song voice.

Legend couldn’t help wincing.

The sugary voice continued. “This is just a passing dream. Come with me. We can run away into a new dream. We can explore the world together!” the shadow called.  

The imitation was terrible. Legend groaned in frustration. “I’ve already made this choice,” he called into the cavern. “Is this the big test? Well  _surprise_ , I’m not that sentimental!” he cried.  

He pulled his bow without hesitation and shot an arrow through the very center of the shadow’s forehead.  

The shadow dispersed, then curled back in on itself. It was swirling and reforming, building a new apparition. The shadow grew taller and began to take on a wickedly familiar visage.  

“Oh, it’s you, kid,” the shadowy figure intoned deeply. “Guess your addict mother isn’t here to save you this time. How’s the head?” At his words, Legend felt the first small flutter of fear in his stomach.  

The mean-faced man.  

He was impossibly big, bigger than any actual Hylian, dwarfing Legend in comparison. His face was just as flushed and cruel as Legend remembered from his nightmares. Legend stretched his right hand reflexively.  

“Maybe this time I’ll pull that arm clean off,” the shadow drawled.

Legend forced his unease to morph into laughter and his confidence grew. “Please,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m not a child anymore. And I’m not afraid of  _you_.”

He drew his sword and slashed out at the specter in one confident, fluid motion.

His slice tore the shadow in two and the darkness dissipated. Legend waited for a tense moment, staring into the cavern. The shadow had disappeared, leaving nothing but the stone floor. The cave was empty once more.  

Legend scoffed, then he turned on his heels and started back into the darkness where the cave’s entrance had been.  

He froze halfway through stowing his sword when another, softer voice called out to him from where the shadow had stood. 

“Link,” the voice whispered.  

Legend spun around to find himself facing his mother. 

He sucked in a breath at the sight of her. She was wreathed in billowing shadows. Her hair hung pale and lifeless around her gaunt, distorted face. Her eyes were without pupils, just large white orbs set into her skull.  

Legend’s hand stayed at his sword, ready to pull it in a moment’s notice. But she didn’t attack him physically.  

“I always hated you, Link,” she spat. “Such a worthless brat. You’re lucky I kept you alive.” Her harsh words resounded through the cavern.  

Legend’s face twisted into a scowl. Of all the loathsome things this hinoxson of a magic cave could come up with…

“You disgust me,” his mother’s long-dead voice continued. 

Anger reignited in Legend’s chest. Everything in this cave was  _wrong_ , like a melodramatic play done by an unskilled troupe. He didn’t appreciate the mockery of his trauma.  

“You think this is scary?” he shouted upward into the cavern. “You think this is what keeps me up at night? Please! This is what I WANTED her to tell me,” he yelled. “This would have made things _easy_!”  

“A boy who wants his mother’s hate? You must know exactly what a pathetic child you are,” the shadow taunted in response. 

Legend shook his head. It would be easy to plunge his sword through the creature’s chest once more, but he was beginning to suspect it was no use. If the shadow was going to keep regenerating, Legend realized he needed to change tactics.

But did he really want to? Slaying monsters was easy, he could stand all night in a damned cave cutting down shadows. Facing enemies in combat no longer required much courage from him after years of experience. Emotions, on the other hand…

“This isn’t her,” Legend said more calmly than he felt. “Show her to me.”

He moved his arm from his blade and let his trembling hand fall to his side. He began taking slow, deliberate steps toward the shadow. 

As he walked, the shape of his mother seemed to shrink in on itself. With each step she grew smaller, more pathetic. Her hair grew blonder and her face filled in, becoming less twisted. Her pupils reappeared as small, round dots within her deep blue eyes.

Finally, he was less than a meter away. She tried to look at him, but her eyes seemed to slide past him. She was a beautiful husk.

“Link… I wanted… to love you,” she told him disjointedly. She tried to raise a hand up to his face, but her movements were clumsy and lacked warmth.  

He shuddered at her touch. Standing before him was the truth: someone so helpless that she couldn’t resist the pull of passing comfort and a quick high.  

Legend choked on his words. “I know you loved me, mom,” he said as hot tears escaped down his cheeks.  _That’s the worst part_ , he thought to himself. 

His words kept coming. “It wasn’t enough. You loved me, and you still left me to starve and bleed. You were a terrible mother,” he whispered.  

His words were pure and true, from the depths of his being, and she had no rebuttal. The shadow was completely still and silent. Waiting for his judgement. Because this was his true test, he could feel it in his bones.  

_Courage, now._

“And I forgive you,” he cried out as his voice broke into a sob. A dam of emotions burst inside of him.  

Legend raised his arms to embrace the shadow, but she dissolved into the air.  

He was truly alone in the cavern. 

Legend sunk to his knees, threw his face to the ground, and wept. 

***

***

***

Legend felt two strong hands lifting his shoulders off the ground. The waterfall thundered in his ears. He opened his eyes to see light filtering through the cascading water. He was still in the stupid cave, he realized.  

“I’ve got him!” sang Twilight’s voice near his head.

“No one can hear you in here,” Legend muttered.

Twilight glanced down. “Oh good, you’re awake. What the hell happened to you?”

Legend propped himself up with an elbow. “Uh, I went for a nighttime stroll?” He rubbed his eyes.

“Mhm, yeah, sure. Legend, it’s nearly midday,” Twilight countered. “Everyone’s out looking for you.”

“The rocky ground here was just so much more _comfy_  than my bedroll,” Legend replied.

“You loosed an  _arrow_ , it’s over there in the corner of the cave!”

“Yeah, sometimes I like to practice my archery in caves!” Legend told him pointedly.  

Twilight glared. “Fine, don’t tell me, but if we’re in danger I want to-”

The two men blinked as light filled their vision. The sound of the waterfall was gone. They were now in the midst of a large, grassy field lit with bright sunlight. They had been transported to yet another new place.

Their heads whipped around. The other seven heroes were scattered throughout the field at various distances. Legend realized they must have split up back on the beach to look for him.

“Legend! Twilight!” Time called out across the grass, sounding relieved at the sight of them.

Legend shot Twilight an insolent look. “See, we’re not in danger,” he replied. “Let’s just be glad that we’re off that goddess-forsaken island.”

Twilight held out his hand and helped Legend to his feet.  

“No one ever said it was an island,” Twilight pointed out.  

Legend didn’t respond. He brushed himself off and pushed his hair back from his eyes. The two men walked through the tall grass toward their companions.  

“Look, I know you’ve been through some serious shit,” Twilight told him. “And I know you don’t like to talk about it. But if anybody could understand, it’s one of us. Sometimes talking makes it better.” Twilight shrugged.  

“Yeah, yeah, ‘ _the deepest wounds are unseen_ ’ and ‘ _let it all out_ ’ and all the rest,” Legend replied sarcastically. “I’m ok, really.” He gave Twilight a meaningful look that betrayed a seriousness his words had tried to cover.  

He glanced up and saw his friends running toward him in the sunlight. They were excited to find him, Legend realized. They wouldn’t leave him to face things alone. Not like his mother had.

His early years of neglect at her hands scarred him and haunted him, and for ages his heart had screamed for retribution. But this sad woman in the cave? Legend saw that she was just a person. A person who failed to love and care for him as she should, but a person all the same. Besides, he considered, she was beyond the grave without a chance to redeem herself to him, and maybe that was punishment enough.  

Legend was grown now, and no longer alone. He was loved and wanted by his friends both here on his quest and back home in his Hyrule. The shadows of his past were sharp, but he didn’t have to carry them wherever he went. He could forgive, allow old wounds to close, and keep on living.  

Legend stared up at the bright blue sky stretching over the bountiful field like a protective cap. For the first time in a long time, he really did feel ok.  


End file.
